The original fraternity, which was resurrected in the 15th
century to become the Hungarian Court of the Dragon, can
first be identified as the Dragon Court of ancient Egypt
under the patronage of the priest-prince Ankhfn-khonsu in about 2170 BC.
It was later established more formally as a pharaonic institution
by the 12th-dynasty Queen Sobeknefru (c.1785-82 BC)
and its operation was much like that of a present day royal academy,
being a unique assembly of science and scholarship.

The Court provided a foundation for priestly pursuits associated
with the teachings of Thoth, which had prevailed from the
time of King Raneb, a pharaoh of the 2nd dynasty
and grandson of the biblical Nimrod (Genesis 10:8-10).
Raneb reigned c.2852-13 BC, about three centuries before the
Gizeh pyramids are reckoned to have been built.

In those far-off times, the priests and temples were not solely
associated with religion as were their later successors in
other lands, but rather more with the duties of preserving and
teaching the old wisdom. The temples were, therefore, places of
work-ship, rather than of worship in the modern sense, and they
incorporated the 'al-khame' (alchemical) workshops of the
Master Craftsmen. It was the obligation of these Masters and the
temple priests to maintain the spiritual welfare of the pharaohs,
while preserving the heritage of a royal bloodline which progressed
through the Dragon Queens of the matrilinear Grail
succession.

It transpired, however, that much of the old wisdom was lost
as the great empires of Persia, Macedonia and Rome
took their successive holds in the Mediterranean world. Around a
million valuable documents were destroyed by fire when Julius
Caesar invaded Egypt in 48 BC, and many more hundreds of
thousands were lost in AD 391 when the Christians destroyed the
great Library of Alexandria.

Long afterwards, on 13 December 1408 (when Britain was in her
Plantagenet era), the fraternal aspect of the Dragon Court
was formally reconstituted by King Zsigmond von Luxembourg of
Hungary at a time of wars and general political turmoil. Having
inherited the ancient legacy in 1397, he drew up a pact with
twenty-three royals and nobles who swore to observe 'true and
pure fraternity' within the 'Societas Draconis' (Society
of the Dragon) - a style which later became "Ordo Dragonis"
(Hungarian: Sárkány Rend - Order of the Dragon), although the Court
was by no means a conventional Order in the recognized chivalric
sense.

Along with Zsigmond (Sigismund), other officers of the Court
were his second wife Barbara Cilli (daughter of Duke Hermann
II of Styria) and their daughter Elizabeth, thereby achieving
an traditional overall standard of twenty-six members. Others
prominent in the Societas Dragonis were,

King Vladislav Jagello of
Poland

King Alfonse V of Aragon

Grand Prince Vitovd of
Lithuania

Duke Ernst of Austria

Christopher III, Duke of
Bavaria and King of Denmark, Sweden and Norway

Later, in 1439, Thomas de
Mowbray, England's Duke of Norfolk, was admitted to the
Court

In popular terms, the Hungarian Court of the Dragon is
perhaps best known for its association with Vlad II, 15th-century
Prince of Wallachia, and his son Dracula. In this
regard, the story begins in 1431 at the fortress of Sighisoara in
Romania, where Vlad III was born into the Wallachian princely
House of Barsarab the Great (1310-52). His father, Prince
Vlad II, was the appointed military governor of Transylvania and, on
8 February in the year of his son's birth, he was inducted into
the Dragon Court by King Zsigmond of Hungary.

This installation was directly responsible for Vlad II's style of
Lord Dragonis, from which derived his sobriquet Dracul
(the Dragon), while his son Vlad III (who inherited the
Dragon office at his father's pledge) became known as Dracula
(son of the Dragon). In later times, the Irish author Bram
Stoker made use of Prince Vlad's nickname in his 1897 Gothic
romance, 'Dracula', although creating an entirely fictitious
character for his legendary Count (see 'Realm
of the Ring Lords' by Laurence Gardner).

The founding document of 'Zsigmondus dei rex Hungaraie'
confirmed that members of the Court might wear the insignia of a
dragon incurved into a circle, with a red cross - based upon the
original emblem of the 'Rosi-crucis' (the Cup of the
waters) which, in its various forms, had identified the Holy
Grail from the 4th millennium BC. This original
Insignia is still in use, along with a black mantle bearing a red
cross design on centre back and front, while a customary gold dragon
brooch is worn upon braid on left shoulder.

Shortly after this foundation,
Zsigmond was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1411
and, although the Court's ancient origins were steeped in
pre-Christian lore, Pope Gregory XII was obliged to approve
his Emperor's establishment, for the nature of the Dragon is
such that its princely tradition surmounts the mundane constraints
of denominational dispute. After all, King David, Solomon
and even Jesuswere all pre-Christian dynasts of
the line.

In those days, the main concern of the Dragon Court was to
help protect regional Europe against the invading sultans of the
expanding Ottoman Empire. Modern historical writers are often
inclined to perceive these Turkish invasions as being a matter of
Muslims against Christians, but that was not the crux of
the matter. The reality was that the Turks, like others
before and after them, were building an 'empire' and their greatest
obstacle was the long-existing Byzantine Empire established
by Rome, to which much of the Balkan region had been in some way
affiliated. In practice, the religious differences were of secondary
consequence and, in any event, Christianity was by no means
supreme in countries like Hungary and Romania, which
supported a strong pagan contingent.

It is in this tradition of weighing governmental and religious
balances that The Imperial and Royal Dragon Court and Order
persists today. It provides a fraternal rallying standard for those
of all creeds and cultures who are dedicated to preserving the
rights and values of others.

The non-joining Court and Order of Sárkány Rend 1408 is a
closed establishment of selected 'invitees' who pursue the ancient
virtues of chivalry, traditionally known as The Five Holy
Obligations.

They are:

1. Protection of the Earth
2. Upholding of Peace
3. Support of the Downtrodden
4. Defense of the Feminine
5. Pursuit of Knowledge

It is recognized that an increasing
number of people are searching for the original, uncluttered roots
of their faith and for their purpose in society. They are seeking
more effective forms of administration to combat the all too
apparent slide into social and moral decline. They are, in fact,
questing for the Holy Grail. This quest for new enlightenment is
considerably heightened by the new millennium and there is a
widespread feeling that this should also present a new Renaissance -
an era of rebirth wherein the precepts of the Grail Code are
acknowledged and practiced - the precepts of liberty,
fraternity and equality.

It is in these respects that the Court of the Dragon is most
active - supporting at all times the sovereignty of the individual
and the responsibilities to protect life and liberty which are
inherent within that sovereignty, while pursuing avenues of hitherto
suppressed knowledge for the benefit of all.